as in deformation
the twisting of something out of its natural or normal shape or condition
the comedian is renowned for his seemingly endless variety of facial contortions
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of contortion
Recently, Boston Dynamics explained Atlas’s uncanny ground-recovery move, revealing why the humanoid rises with contortions rather than standing upright.
—
Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 9 Feb. 2026
And this is not to shame the act of contortion.
—Caroline Rothstein, InStyle, 30 Dec. 2025
The bodies had signs of binding the hands and feet, contortion of limbs, cut off fingertips and disfigured heads, according to Kaki.
—ABC News, 31 Oct. 2025
The oil made her body slippery, allowing rescuers to pull her out of the passageway by working in reverse and undoing all the contortions that trapped her.
—Mark Gray, PEOPLE, 25 Oct. 2025
The incidents highlight the contortions of the Taliban four years after seizing power of Afghanistan.
—NPR, 14 Oct. 2025
DiCaprio actually is quite funny early on in the film, but his performance loses steam in the back half, as his broad gestures and facial contortions can’t quite match the grim subtlety of Scorsese’s direction of the later scenes.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 2 Oct. 2025
Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 9 Feb. 2026
And this is not to shame the act of contortion.
—Caroline Rothstein, InStyle, 30 Dec. 2025
The bodies had signs of binding the hands and feet, contortion of limbs, cut off fingertips and disfigured heads, according to Kaki.
—ABC News, 31 Oct. 2025
The oil made her body slippery, allowing rescuers to pull her out of the passageway by working in reverse and undoing all the contortions that trapped her.
—Mark Gray, PEOPLE, 25 Oct. 2025
The incidents highlight the contortions of the Taliban four years after seizing power of Afghanistan.
—NPR, 14 Oct. 2025
DiCaprio actually is quite funny early on in the film, but his performance loses steam in the back half, as his broad gestures and facial contortions can’t quite match the grim subtlety of Scorsese’s direction of the later scenes.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 2 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for contortion
Noun
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This dual-frequency design enhances its sensitivity to surface deformation, vegetation structure, and ice dynamics across a wide range of environments.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Feb. 2026
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Most of the shifts and deformations gradually returned to normal by six months after return to Earth.—
Rachael Seidler,
The Conversation,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The result of their efforts so far is a presentation of reality subjected to all the distortion of a funhouse mirror.—
Rachel Marsden,
Hartford Courant,
5 Feb. 2026
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The affordability gain is small, diffuse, and uncertain, but the economic distortions are real and cumulative.—
Josh Appel,
Washington Post,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Ancient mosaics have been restored into laughable deformities of their previous selves.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Feb. 2026
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The body tries to repair the damage, but healing is often slow and incomplete, leaving the bone weakened and vulnerable to collapse or deformity — changes that can lead to lasting hip problems.—
Miriam Fauzia,
Dallas Morning News,
14 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Contortion.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contortion. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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